California Domestic Partnership Requirements and Rights

A California domestic partnership is a legal status any two adults can register with the Secretary of State to gain the same rights and obligations that state law gives married spouses. Both partners must be at least 18, unmarried and not in another partnership, not closely related by blood, and capable of consenting. Registration takes one notarized form and a $33 filing fee, or $10 if either partner is 62 or older.

Who Can Register

California Family Code Section 297 sets four conditions, and both people must meet all of them when they sign the Declaration of Domestic Partnership:¹

Neither is married to someone else or registered in another domestic partnership that hasn’t been legally ended.
The two are not related by blood in a way that would prevent them from marrying each other under California law.
Both are at least 18. A person under 18 can register only with a court order.
Both have the mental capacity to consent at the time of signing.

Older guides sometimes list a shared residence as a requirement. It isn’t one under the current statute.¹ Section 297 was overhauled by Senate Bill 30, effective January 1, 2020, which also removed the earlier rule that opposite-sex couples could only register if at least one partner was 62 or older.² Any two adults who meet the four conditions above can now register, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

How to Register

The form is short. Form DP-1 asks for both partners’ full legal names and a mailing address, and it’s available on the Secretary of State’s website.³ Match the names to your government-issued ID exactly, because mismatches get the filing rejected.

Both partners must sign in front of a notary public. California caps the notary fee at $15 per signature, so expect up to $30 for the two signatures. Original wet-ink signatures are required; scans, photocopies, and electronic signatures are not accepted.⁴

Submit the notarized form to the Secretary of State with a $33 filing fee, or $10 if either partner is 62 or older.⁵ You can mail it to the Sacramento office or drop it off in person at Sacramento or Los Angeles. In-person filing adds a $15 special handling fee and is usually processed within 30 minutes if you arrive by 4:30 p.m.⁶ Mail-in filings take longer; the Secretary of State posts the current processing date online.

Payment by mail should be a check or money order made out to the Secretary of State. The in-person offices also take Visa and Mastercard, and the Sacramento office accepts cash.³ The partnership becomes legally effective on the date the Secretary of State accepts and files the declaration.¹ Keep the returned documents somewhere safe. You’ll need proof for insurance enrollment, hospital access, and property transactions.

Public or Confidential Filing

You choose between two versions of the declaration on the form itself. The legal effect is identical. What differs is who can see the record afterward.

A standard filing on Form DP-1 becomes a permanent public record. Anyone can request and inspect it, including the names and mailing address on the form.⁴

A confidential filing uses a separate Confidential Declaration of Domestic Partnership form. Only the registered partners themselves, after verifying identity, or someone with a court order can access it. The Secretary of State’s office will not confirm the status of a pending confidential filing over the phone or by email.⁴

What Registration Gets You Under State Law

Family Code Section 297.5 gives registered domestic partners the same rights, protections, and obligations that married spouses have under every area of California law — statutes, regulations, court rules, and common law.¹ The protections that matter most in day-to-day life:

Community property. Income earned and debts taken on during the partnership belong equally to both partners, and each has a 50% interest in community assets.
Inheritance. A surviving partner has the same intestate succession rights as a surviving spouse. If your partner dies without a will, you inherit under the same rules.
Healthcare decisions. You can visit your partner in the hospital and make medical decisions if they become incapacitated.
Parental presumption. A child born during a registered partnership is legally presumed to be the child of both partners.
Insurance. California requires health plans to treat domestic partners the same as spouses, so employer spousal coverage must be extended to registered partners.
Nondiscrimination. No California public agency can treat you differently for being a registered domestic partner rather than a married spouse.¹

Equal treatment extends to former and surviving partners too. If the partnership ends, property division, support, and parental rights follow the same rules that apply in divorce.

What Federal Law Does Not Give You

Federal law does not recognize a registered domestic partnership as a marriage, and the gap has real financial consequences.⁴

Taxes

You cannot file a joint federal tax return. Each partner files individually as single or head of household.⁷ The California rules go the other way. The Franchise Tax Board requires registered partners to use the same filing statuses as married couples: married/RDP filing jointly, married/RDP filing separately, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse/RDP.⁸ Because you file separately at the federal level but jointly (or married filing separately) at the state level, you’ll combine income and deductions from your two federal returns to prepare the California return, and a checkbox on the state form flags the discrepancy.

Social Security, Immigration, and Other Federal Programs

Social Security, veterans’ benefits, Medicare, and immigration sponsorship all run through federal law. Married couples qualify automatically. For registered partners, Social Security survivor or spousal benefits turn on whether the Social Security Administration treats the partnership as a “nonmarital legal relationship” that grants inheritance rights. California partnerships do grant those rights, which helps, but the analysis is more involved than for a married couple and individual facts matter. Immigration sponsorship isn’t available to domestic partners at all. Only legal spouses can petition for a partner’s visa or green card.

If federal recognition matters — for tax planning, Social Security, or immigration — marriage is the only status that guarantees it. Some couples register a partnership first and decide later whether to marry.

How to End a California Domestic Partnership

A partnership does not dissolve on its own. Until you formally end it, you remain responsible for your partner’s community debts, community property rules keep running, and you cannot register a new partnership or marry someone else. California offers three ways out.

Filing a Notice of Termination With the Secretary of State

The simplest route bypasses court. You file a Notice of Termination with the Secretary of State, but only if every one of these is true when you file:⁹

The partnership has lasted five years or less.
No children were born or adopted during the partnership, and neither partner is pregnant.
Neither partner owns real estate. A lease without a purchase option that expires within a year of filing is allowed.
Community property (excluding cars) totals less than $57,000, and neither partner’s separate property (excluding cars) exceeds $57,000.
Unpaid partnership debts (excluding car loans) total less than $7,000.
Both partners agree on dividing assets and debts, and neither seeks partner support.
Both partners sign the notice.

The termination does not take effect for six months after filing. Either partner can file a Notice of Revocation during that window and keep the partnership intact.¹⁰ If nobody revokes, the partnership ends automatically at the six-month mark.

Summary Dissolution

Summary dissolution is a simplified court process with essentially the same eligibility thresholds — under five years, no children, limited assets and debts — but filed in Superior Court instead of with the Secretary of State. The filing fee is $435, with waivers available for those who qualify. This route produces a court judgment ending the partnership.

Standard Dissolution

If you have children, own property, have been together more than five years, or can’t agree on terms, you need a standard dissolution. It works the same as a divorce, with the same rules for property division, partner support, and child custody. You file a petition in Superior Court, and the process takes at least six months from the date your partner is served.

1
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 297-297.5 – Definitions
2
California Secretary of State. Domestic Partners Legislation
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California Secretary of State. Declaration of Domestic Partnership
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California Secretary of State. Frequently Asked Questions
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California Secretary of State. Forms
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California Secretary of State. Domestic Partners Registry
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Internal Revenue Service. Community Property
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Franchise Tax Board. Registered Domestic Partner Filing Status
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California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code FAM 299
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California Secretary of State. Terminating a California Registered Domestic Partnership